Kitten Beachwear: The Luxury Label Every Sun Worshipper Needs This Travel Season

Packing your bags for a beach getaway should be easy, but, as many women know all too well, finding the perfect piece to transition from beachside or poolside to dinner and drinks is far from easy. Stylish options in the world of kaftans and sarongs are few and far between and those that exist often feel and look boring, and nearly identical to every other fashionable beach cover up you see.

Finding Kitten Beachwear, then, is like a gift from whichever sun god (or goddess, in most cases) you choose to worship. (Although the arrival of any sunshine at this point is welcome.) Created by Gail Conder, the Founder and Creative Director of the luxury brand, Kitten Beachwear creates chic and sophisticated pieces for women who live for holiday escapes. The perfect balance of glamorous fun, it’s obvious that Kitten Beachwear was created by a woman who intimately understands what women are looking for.

“It was winter of 2012, I had a holiday planned for three weeks to India and I was shopping for beautiful pieces to take away,” says Gail when asked about how someone like her with a career in business communications as an account manager made the leap into fashion and design, and a highly successful leap at that. “It was on that day,” she continues, “that I first convinced myself to have a go and set up my own label of pieces that represented me and my own personal style.” And what a go she’s had as Kitten Beachwear is celebrating five successful years in business this summer, which for any brand is no mean feat.

Known for beautifully designed graphic prints, which, according to Gail, are inspired by things like Hindu temples and Gods, mosaic floors, sun symbols, and beach landscapes, Kitten Beachwear’s collections of kaftans, maxi dresses, sarongs, and other luxury travel accessories are fast becoming must-have items for jet-setting women around the world.

Kitten Beachwear SS18 Collection

With 20 styles in the SS18 collection, Kitten Beachwear continues to be the go-to independent British brand women in the know flock to, relying on them for resort-style wear. Designs like Luciana, Tamara, and Lydia, which all feature flowing maxi skirts and a deep-v style neckline, look effortlessly chic regardless of which corner of the world you are in. But the shorter kaftan silhouette seen in both the Dina and Yolanda styles look equally stylish, allowing you to show some skin but without ever feeling underdressed.

Although every style found in Kitten Beachwear’s SS18 collection is enviable, there are four designs we are seriously crushing on. The Paola comes in both kaftan and maxi versions, featuring a monochrome black and white look that is just begging to be dressed up with heels for an evening dinner or a summer wedding. And while Paola’s monochrome palette is anything but basic, one look at the bright tropical colours on the Bianca dress and you’ll suddenly see why we’re torn between the two. Also available in both kaftan and maxi silhouettes, the multicoloured Bianca uses punches of luscious lemon and hot pink to command attention, but in an easy-to-get-along-with-laid-back kind of way.

And then there are the Gigi and Sabine lightweight dresses (also available in both kaftan and maxi dress lengths). It’s impossible to stop staring at both of their stunning graphic designs, which, while intricate, are surprisingly modern and easy to wear for a variety of occasions. Both lovingly hand-finished with bright yellow tassels and sparkly Swarovski crystals, you’ll be the centre of conversation everywhere you go (and won’t mind it a bit).